Food scoops of the type normally referred to as french fry scoops are widely used as containers, particularly in "fast food" establishments, for the dispensing of french fries, onion rings, chicken nuggets and like "finger" foods.
Such known scoops are of a generally rectangular configuration with a higher back wall providing for or assisting in the scooping of the fries therein.
With the conventional scoop, the container, when filled, will normally lie flat on its back panel with the contents tending to spill from the open mouth thereof, unless the scoop is held upright in the consumer's hand or is otherwise physically maintained in a vertical position as by being wedged in a serving tray by adjacent products. The actual holding of the scoop can be awkward because of the elongate rectangular configuration.
The conventional scoop also incorporates multiple vertically extending fold lines defining distinct planar sides to the scoop which do not particularly lend themselves to a continuous surface pattern about the peripheral wall of the scoop. Problems may also arise with regard to the proper filling of the conventional scoop, and the withdrawal of the fries or the like therefrom in light of the relatively narrow elongate nature of the scoop and the angular corners provided about the interior thereof.
Attempts have been made to improve on the conventional fry scoop in various ways, including increasing the curvature of the front and rear walls, particularly toward the upper portion of the scoop, and forming the lower portion into a cross-sectional configuration which more closely approaches a square rather than an elongate rectangle with fold lines defining the lower generally square configuration of the scoop and the opposed sides of the scoop being substantially planar for at least a portion of the height thereof upward from the bottom. However, the use of fold lines in the wall panels inherently causes an interruption in any surface patterns or indicia. Further, while a square bottom may provide more stability for a self-standing scoop, there is much room for improvement. In this regard, a square bottom does not particularly lend itself to formation from a single blank, and problems in attempting to provide a wrinkle-free base are substantial.